University of Konoha - Adventures in the Athletic Dorm
by Gini.R
Summary: Naruto is starting his freshman year at the University of Konoha. He has two strange and reclusive roommates, a team captain that despises him, professors that want to kill him with homework, meddling coaches, and a dorm full of the most competitive, odd bunch of athletes ever (but somehow he ends up becoming friends with all of them)
1. Introduction to the Dormmates

This first chapter is just a quick introduction. The rest of the story will just be shorts about everyone and their college careers, they won't always include all the characters at once because that's a pain to make it completely entertaining and get into character development. Some will be silly, meaningless stuff, some will be more serious. Thanks for reading :) and reviewing ;)

* * *

Naruto was rushing through his shower, knowing he was running late to their first official dorm meeting, but refusing to attend while stinky and sweaty from his run this morning. Most of the freshman athletes had moved in yesterday, and met through the brief chaotic introductions of peering around boxes and bedding and bumping into each other as they all crammed into their assigned dorm rooms. But today the resident assistants, Tenten and Lee, were calling all new athletes to formally meet in the downstairs lobby. His roommates, Sasuke and Sai, had already left by the time he returned from running, and while Naruto hated being late, he hated being smelly even more.

The freshman athletic dorms were nice and prestigious compared to regular student dorms. Though there were three to a dorm, each athlete had their own room, and only shared the common area consisting of a couch, love seat and reclining chair, a television, and a kitchenette holding a bar with three stools, a metal sink, a microwave, a half-size fridge and a small two-burner stove. Leading from the back of the common area was a hall with the three doors to their rooms on the left, and two other doors on the right, one leading to the shower, the other to the toilet. Three sinks were evenly spaced on a high counter between the shower and toilet. Naruto was happy with the arrangement, getting his own room was a relief, but being forced to share the rest of the space with his roommates allowed for at least some social interaction.

Sai and Sasuke were both dark haired, pale, and quiet. Sai was more lanky and lean with shorter hair and a black sweatband around his head to hold his bangs back. Sasuke was taller, wearing a sleeveless, navy basketball jersey over a white t-shirt and jogger sweatpants, with windswept hair that stood out in the back. Naruto felt that if they didn't have to eat and use the bathroom they'd never come out of their rooms. Naruto however, was nosy and definitely not bashful, and after finishing unpacking the few boxes he had, decided to just barge into each of their rooms just to see how they looked. Sasuke's was the middle room. He had scrunched his nose when he realized that Sai had arrived first and already chosen the room at the end of the hall, but didn't say anything.

Sasuke's room was dark. He'd put blackout curtains on the window, and had a black comforter on the bed. The only intimate objects had been a picture on the dresser of a dark-haired family, Naruto guessed his parents and older brother, and a picture of Sasuke, his brother, and another dark haired boy. When Naruto had come stumbling in, greeting the other boy loudly and commenting on his dark and depressing décor, he had been promptly shoved out and made aware of the black duct tape on the floor of Sasuke's doorway. He was not allowed to cross that line. However, Naruto simply shrugged and moved on to Sai's room, Sasuke quietly following.

Sai also had blackout curtains on his window. But his bedspread was green and had the school's logo patterned on it. There were no pictures of his family, but plenty of sketches and paintings taped all over the ceiling and walls.

"Sai are you an art major? These are amazing!" Naruto had exclaimed.

Sai merely replied in the positive with a creepy smile before exiting and leading Naruto and Sasuke down the hall to equally rudely barge into Naruto's own room. The bed had an orange comforter, no curtains, and no pictures of family. The only thing decorating one wall was a large photo of a sunrise he had taken one morning in high school after cross country practice. It was a beautiful picture, oranges, yellows, and golds streaming through the sky over a still grey and blue landscape and a faintly lit oval track. Sasuke had made a rude comment on the bright colors of his room and Sai complimented him on the sunrise picture before insulting his obviously poor photography skills.

Finally ready to go, dressed in his most comfy black warm up pants and post-run slippers, Naruto slipped an orange t-shirt over his head and grabbed a granola bar before rushing down to the lobby to meet everyone else. He barely remembered to lock the dorm door and almost tripped down the stairs. His loud entrance caused everybody to turn and stare at him, and with a sinking heart he realized he was the last one there. He gave a small grin and wave before shuffling over to sit next to Sai.

Naruto's eyes almost popped out of his head when he turned to his resident assistants. The girl, Tenten he recalled, was normal enough, and from her physique he would guess she was on the cross country team, but her sweatshirt was labeled "University of Konoha Archery." But the boy, Lee, was wearing a ridiculous green spandex suit and had a ridiculously thick head of hair styled in a bowl cut. He was fit enough to pull it off, but to parade around in that was…unusual. Sai noticed Naruto's flabbergasted stare and leaned over to mutter quietly, "That's Rock Lee. He's a legendary athlete; on the gymnastics team, swimming team, and quarterback of the American football team."

Naruto almost choked. "How does he have time for all of that?"

Sai shrugged. The University of Konoha was not a large school. Big enough to have most sports available for the students, but small enough that some could join more than one athletic activity if they were hard working and dedicated enough, and didn't mind surviving on three hours of sleep a night. Being a college athlete was already a privilege, but to be in three different sports, especially for one to be football, the most popular sporting event for students and fans of the university? Furthermore, to be a resident assistant and attend classes at the same time? What a guy.

Lee clapped his hands once before smiling and introducing himself. "Good morning, everyone! I am Rock Lee, resident assistant for the freshman athletes. My fellow, lovely resident assistant is Tenten, and we will begin a presentation shortly to teach you about the rules and regulations that must be followed during your stay in the dorm. But first we would like to introduce ourselves and give you all the chance to introduce yourselves! This is a relatively small and special dorm just for freshmen athletes; we will be spending a lot of time together so it's good to get to know everybody quickly!"

Tenten stepped up. "Hi guys! I'm Tenten. Please state your name, major, which athletic club you are a part of and a goal you have for this first semester. I'll go first! I'm a mechanical engineering major, I'm on the cross country team and archer team, and my goal is to get an internship for this summer."

A redhead with long layered hair pushed her glasses up her nose and frowned. "I'm Karen. I'm on the girls' soccer team, archery team, and cheerleading squad. Tenten is my roommate and I'm an environmental science major. My goal is to finally get a boyfriend this year."

Karen pointedly winked at Lee, making Tenten giggle slightly. Lee, oblivious to Karen's wink, took that as a que for him to go next. "I'm a health and exercise science major, I practice gymnastics, swimming, and I'm on the football team. My goal is be able to run fifty laps around the football field on my hands!"

A long haired boy introduced himself as Hyuuga Neji. "I'm unfortunately Lee's roommate. I'm captain of the cross country team. I'm not a resident assistant, but if any of you cause trouble I will be the one to suspend you from your extracurricular activities, including your athletic events. My goal is to make your lives miserable."

Everyone gulped and stared wide eyed at that before a blonde girl with a long ponytail stood up confidently and introduced herself as Yamanaka Ino, a psychology major also on the gymnastics team. She had glittery makeup on, and had a purple top that showed off her stomach. Naruto felt Sai lean forward, and turned to see a spark of interest in is usually flat eyes. He elbowed Sai in teasing, but the other boy just turned and stared at him in confusion before regaining his emotionless façade.

Next was a tall, pink-haired girl, Haruno Sakura. Despite her pink hair, which had a choppy cut, and the red ribbon used as a headband to hold it back, Naruto thought she looked kind of intimidating. She was lanky, but had dark eyeliner around her green eyes and darkly painted nails. She was on the volleyball team and was a pediatrician major. Her goal was to make the most kills out of everyone on the team this year. Naruto thought that sounded violent coming from a volleyball player, but figured it was just some type of weird volleyball lingo.

Akimichi Chouji was a thickly muscled boy on the football team and in the university's culinary school. Naruto gleamed at that, as he was also in the culinary school, and decided to introduce himself next.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, also in the culinary school! I run cross country and my goal is to make a lot of friends this year! High-five, Chouji! I can't wait to see you in class!" He clumsily leaned over to smack his hand against Chouji's, who was looking a bit nervous and surprised, but smiled at Naruto nonetheless.

He heard Sasuke snort at his enthusiastic introduction and would have said something, but was distracted by a small dark haired girl giving him a shy smile. Naruto smiled goofily back and sat down in his seat.

The rest of the introductions were heard. Sasuke was a finance major and on the basketball team along with a fierce-looking boy, Inuzuka Kiba, who had red fangs tattooed on his cheeks and clear glass blue eyes that stood out from his tan skin.

Nara Shikamaru had long spiky hair tied into a short ponytail and introduced himself with a lazy drawl. In high school, he and Sai had won the state championships for tennis doubles, and decided to attend Konoha together and continue working as an unbeatable team.

A redheaded boy with a gruff country accent introduced himself as Sabaku no Gaara, on the swim team, and a political science major. He stated that he hated water, but felt that in order to validate his existence he needed to face his fear of it every day in practice and competitions. Aburame Shino was also on the swim team and boys' soccer team. He kept shiny black goggles over his eyes and wore a high-collared black coat that must have been stifling, but he showed no sign of discomfort.

Lastly was the shy dark haired girl, Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata was Neji's younger cousin, on the volleyball team with Sakura, and was a literature major. She spoke softly and carefully, but pleasantly. Naruto beamed at her when she admitted to also hoping to make plenty of friends this year. Her cheeks glowed under her pale eyes, which just made Naruto smile wider. Hinata's blush deepened further and Naruto's smile continued glowing brighter for several long seconds, neither of them looking away. Then, Sakura stood and smacked the back of Naruto's head, ending the moment.

"Stop embarrassing my teammate, idiot!"

Naruto whimpered, staring at the tall, pink-haired girl with watery eyes. She was so violent! He was drawn out of his momentary surprise however by a loud guffaw, and turned to see Sasuke with his hand over his mouth and a regretful look on his face for laughing out loud. Sakura stared at Sasuke before giving a _hmph_ and plopping down next to Ino, smugly studying her dark nails. From behind Sakura's shoulder, Naruto spied another set of pale eyes glaring at him. Oh right, Neji was Hinata's older cousin…and captain of the cross country team. Naruto felt apprehension for the extra set of laps or sprints Neji would have him run at their first team practice.


	2. 1 XC and Gymnastics

Naruto could hear his alarm beeping at him, but didn't fully awaken until a loud thump hit the wall between his room and Sasuke's room. He imagined Sasuke had thrown his shoe at the wall. Groaning, he rolled over to glance at the clock, it read 4:20 A.M. He'd always had to get up early for practice, runners were notorious for being early risers, but that didn't mean that it was any easier for all the years he'd done so. Hearing Sasuke's muffled voice through the wall, "Dobe, get your lazy butt out of bed and turn that alarm off! It's waking me up!"

Then he heard Sai's voice, "Shut up, Sasuke! You're waking me up!"

Ah, his roommates didn't have practice until 6:30. With that, Naruto crawled out of bed and shut the alarm off. He stumbled to the bathroom, and then to the sinks to wash his hands and face before making his way back to his room and turning on the bright, fluorescent lights. After dressing in his shorts, dry-knit shirt, warm up suit, and light gloves he headed to the kitchen to scarf down a banana. In his water bottle he poured half water and half orange Gatorade. His bag was already packed and sitting by the front door with more water, caffeinated run gum, beef jerky, gummy bears, sunglasses, extra socks and shoes, tissues, and Body Glide to prevent the painful chafing that always plagued distance runners in the most uncomfortable spots. He knew today was going to be a long practice. Neji was still not finished dealing out extra laps for him. He stretched out on the couch for a brief minute, trying to let the banana digest but not fall back asleep before heading out the door into the soft morning air.

Naruto love walking through campus in the wee morning hours. It was dark and quiet, but the lampposts provided ample lighting and managed to look elegant and alluring. He knew Neji and Tenten were already at the track, helping their coach, Kakashi-sensei set up. Many of the other freshmen had companions on their respective teams: Sasuke and Kiba, Sai and Shikamaru, Sakura and Hinata, and Gaara and Shino. But Naruto, Ino, and Chouji were the only freshmen on their own teams and it often made practice somewhat lonely. Not that they didn't have great upperclassmen teammates, but Naruto didn't have anyone to share the quiet predawn walk with. Despite running being performed alone, it was very much a sociable sport. In high school he and his teammates would hold hours long conversations on their runs, talking about any little thing.

The red track was brightly lit with flood lights and he could see Kakashi with his clipboard talking to Neji. The team was individually lightly jogging and beginning their dynamic warmups, and Naruto lazily joined them. Ten minutes later, Kakashi was blowing his whistle with an unkind amount of volume for so early in the morning, eye-smiling behind his medical mask.

"Today you'll be running six miles. Then we'll do a brief thirty-minute session of strength training. I've assigned everyone to groups based on their mile pace, remember, no one runs alone. Girls, take this run easier since you have your first practice meet this weekend. Underclassmen, stick with your upperclassmen so you don't get lost."

He turned pointedly to Naruto at that. Naruto shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. He did get lost on their first long run and the whole team was sent out looking for him. They split into their groups and began jogging the first mile slowly around the track before heading out the gates and into the fields beyond. Kakashi followed them on a bike with extra water and a first aid kit in his backpack, riding up and down the spread out groups repeatedly, somehow managing to simultaneously read Icha Icha.

Naruto's pace partner was a third year, Haku. Haku was a good runner, much more experienced than Naruto, and had a gentle way of encouraging him. Naruto had naturally strong stamina, and could run for hours, but his pace was easy and loping. Haku was teaching Naruto to quicken his steps and work at a faster pace more consistently. They would race to the finish each time, and for shorter distances Haku would always win, but for the extra-long runs, Naruto's stamina pulled him through.

The first three miles, Naruto hated. His legs hadn't woken up, his lungs burned, and he just wanted to slow down and quit. But it was always this way, and he knew that somehow once he completed his third mile, he get in the zone and would feel like he could go on forever. Then they'd reach a hill and his legs would ache and his breath would sting and he'd hate running. Then they'd reach the top and begin running downhill and he'd feel invincible. The cycle repeated: he hated running, he loved running. Some runs were amazing, some were defeating, but Naruto knew he was getting better with each step. Plus, he got to eat a monstrous amount of food afterword.

When they finished the run, Naruto was stopped by the water station. He turned when Tenten called to him.

"Morning, Naruto! Are you ready for classes to start soon?"

He grinned. Tenten was a great resident assistant, she and Lee always managed to keep tabs on the freshmen and fit in time to interrogate them about their lives. "Well, I haven't ordered my textbooks yet, but I am excited."

"Hm, you might want to do so soon, but definitely rent some of the books to save money! If you need any help with the general education classes Lee and I can get you in contact with great tutors. In fact, Neji is a tutor for calculus!"

Naruto gave her another smile. Like he'd ask Neji for help. The guy was a stick in the mud and did not like Naruto at all. Neji was as stern and quiet as Naruto was carefree and loud. Oh, speak of the devil; he was on his way to the water station now, glaring at Naruto with icy eyes and a downturned mouth.

"Neji! I was just telling Naruto what a great calculus tutor you are!"

"Naruto, you should be heading to the weight room with the other teammates. No slacking off. Tenten, I doubt as a student of the culinary school Naruto needs to take calculus."

Naruto bristled and stepped forward, but before he could say anything, Tenten spoke. "Oh you may be right, but I'm sure he could hack it if he tried. No need to be rude, Neji."

At that, Naruto noticed that behind his blank mask, Neji's face managed to look somewhat like a kicked puppy, and there was the faintest hint of pink. Naruto decided Neji was still a jerk, but he realized he was an in-love jerk, and was too proud and emotionally restrained to hold a pleasant conversation. Well, Naruto now had a new mission.

"Eh, it's okay, Tenten-san. I've never been one for traditional studying. That's part of the reason I decided to become a chef, cooking uses a lot of instincts! I'm sure Neji-san is a great calculus tutor, but I'd pity anyone who tries to teach me that fancy math."

Neji stared at him while Tenten giggled slightly. Naruto smirked and turned toward the weight room. Halfway there, Neji called out.

"Naruto, I think you've worked hard enough today. Instead of running extra laps, you can hand wash all the water bottles from the water station after practice today."

Naruto stopped cold. He was being demoted to dish washing? Neji probably thought he was doing him a favor, but really, dish washing?! He half turned, "Heh…okay. Thanks Neji-san."

* * *

Ino puffed an excited sigh as she walked into the gym. She was the first one here! It was silent and peaceful, and she was ready to begin her long hours of practice. Gymnastics was one of the most time-consuming sports, requiring its participants to work four hours a day, five to six days a week, and those training for the Olympics worked much longer. Ino preferred to begin early in the morning, stretching and warming up before even the coach, Kurenai-sensei arrived.

Ino finished her dynamic warmup, static stretches, and rolling her ankles, hips, and shoulders to prepare them for jumps and twists and began working on the floor. Though her favorite part of gymnastics was the parallel bars, she always began with floor exercises as the floor routine was her weakest skill. Just as she was completing a round off, the gym doors banged open and a loud voice echoed throughout.

"Whoo! I'm back from summer training camp and better than ever, un!"

Startled, Ino stared at the blond boy who looked to be a couple of years her senior. His blond hair looked eerily familiar, pulled into a high ponytail with bangs hanging out over his face. The only difference was that Ino routinely used glitter hairspray in her long strands. The other gymnast had on a sharp, white warmup suit with red stripes down the sides of the sleeves and pants, and was excitedly doing back handsprings across the floor, almost bumping into her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you fool!"

The boy immediately stopped, his feet touching the ground with his hands behind his head in the bridge position before sliding out so that he was on the ground staring up at her. Ino wished she had worn her sparkly new purple leotard rather than this drab grey one, so that she would look more impressive, but she was saving that one until she invited Sai to come watch her practice.

The other blond bounced up, reaching out to tug her hair, but Ino jumped back just in time. "Oi! What is this, un? Do I have an admirer?" He grinned and reached out both hands to pinch her cheeks.

She slapped his hands away. "No! My hair has always been like this. I don't even know who you are! Not to mention, you almost knocked me over with your sloppy back handsprings!"

The boy snapped his gaze to her and narrowed his eyes. "I'll have you know, I am Deidara, gymnast extraordinaire and master of the still rings! Captain of the Konoha Gymnastics team and nationally recognized winner of the pommel horse! And, my back handsprings are not sloppy! My form is an artwork none can hope to achieve! Who are you, little fish?"

He imitated her jaw-dropped stare and flapped his hands by his cheeks. Ino flushed, then she screeched, and moved to hit the idiot but he just jumped as high as any gymnast could, laughing and taunting her. Ino chased him around the gym until he jumped up to the two still rings hanging from the ceiling, out of her reach. She was still spitting and growling like a wild animal below him when Kurenai-sensei arrived with the rest of the team.

"Oh, Ino-chan, I see you've met Deidara-kun. He's offered to help coach the underclassmen and chaperone the first training camp."

Ino fell to her knees, this humiliating idiot would not coach her. Besides, he only mentioned skills in the still rings and pommel horse, girls did not compete in those skills, therefore she would never have to work with him.

Then Lee ran up, in all his green-spandex glory. "Deidara-senpai, how kind of you to offer your help! Will you teach us some cool moves for the floor routine?"

Ino fell face first on the floor. Oh, she couldn't wait to whine to Sakura about this. How did she gain such unfortunate teammates? Deidara leaped down from the rings, not even out of breath from suspending himself for so long.

"Lee-kun, I'd be happy to! As soon as Ino-chan recovers from her dead fish-like state we will begin, un!"

When Ino returned the next morning, still sore and bitter from the previous practice, Deidara attacked her with a wide smile and holding a smaller, matching, ladies version of his own red and white warmup suit.

"Fish-chan! Look what I got you!"


	3. 2 Volleyball and Basketball

2

Sakura carefully braided her semi-short hair into two pink French braids. She knew Hinata was waiting behind her, watching. Getting ready for a tournament was always exciting. Volleyball was not like gymnastics, with all the makeup and glitter and putting on a show, but that didn't mean that she couldn't dress up for it. Hinata had somewhat agreed, stating that she wore makeup to games because she'd had a coach once comment, "You don't even look awake on the court!" and makeup helped liven her up.

Sakura snorted. Hinata was naturally pretty, but she had a shy, almost closed off expression when playing volleyball. She supposed the makeup softened the look. Sakura wore makeup because it made her look intimidating, and she _was_ putting on a show. The braids were cute, but with her tall frame, dark nails, and darkly lined green eyes, she'd have no problem scaring her opponents across the net. _It's all mental_ , she heard Ino's voice say. _If you can impress them before the competition even starts, you've already won half the game_. When she finished her hair, she spread tape around her earlobes. Two weeks ago, Sakura had gotten small gages in her ears. She did not want large holes, those were disgusting in her opinion, but the small ones added to her aesthetic, making her only look cooler, and accentuating her lean features. She couldn't take them out yet, but the rules during games and tournaments disallowed from earrings and gages being free to fall out or somehow harm someone, so she taped them.

Sakura slipped her slide sandals over her black socked feet, and turned and assessed Hinata. The short girl had a French braid gathering her bangs out of her face before being smoothed into a low ponytail with a lavender ribbon tying it off. Some flyaway pieces of dark hair still fell and framed her face though. Sakura had advised her to wear more eyeliner to accentuate her eyes, and her black libero's jersey showed through the black warmups. Hinata would be wearing all black, including her kneepads and the little fingerless palm guards she wore to prevent skidding her hands when diving across the floor. Perfectly intimidating. The rest of the team would be wearing the Konoha green, Hinata's jersey was different, allowing her to substitute in and out of the back row on the court quickly and without consequence. _Black and green are such cool school colors_ , she thought. _We're going to kick ass._

Sakura was an ace, she had enough power to hit the ball with a speed not all could manage, and she was aware and intelligent enough to hit around the blockers, through them, or find the hole in the opponents' defense and direct the ball wherever she wanted. She wasn't perfect, nobody was, but Sakura took pride in her skills. Plus, working with the upperclassmen and Hinata were doing marvels for her improvement.

She remembered her first practice with Hinata on the other side of the net. The girl was quiet, but fast and smart. Her ball control was some of the best Sakura had seen, able to reach backwards, one-armed, or even resorting to performing a last minute pancake with her palm flat on the court floor. She had good controlled form, but was also capable of being scrappy when she needed to. They made each other better, Sakura have to work harder to get around Hinata, and Hinata having to work harder to return Sakura's hits. Thankfully, they were on the same team. She filled both their water bottles to the brim with ice before filling the rest with tap water. Smiling and handing Hinata one, Sakura gave a simple "Let's go."

There were five courts total in the gymnasium. Konoha was on the last court; their first opponent would be Taki. As Sakura took a break from her peppering with Hinata, she scanned the bleachers. Tenten and Lee had made a rule that all the freshman athletes show support for each other by occasionally attending the games and meets. As this was the first volleyball tournament, most of the dorm showed up. She rolled her eyes when she saw Ino flipping her glittery hair everywhere and chatting to Sai, who was staring at the blonde with a deer-in-the-headlights look. On the other side of Sai were Sasuke and Naruto. Something inside of her squealed with happiness.

The team started returning to their bags, taking off their black warmups, and for the first time Sakura gave thought to the fact that the volleyball uniform included spandex shorts. For all her fashion forward styles, she was thankful her long jersey covered her butt. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Hinata, who had her black jersey tucked into her spandex and flatteringly bloused, butt fully exposed. Before crowding around their coach, Tsunade-sama (because 'sensei' wasn't respectful enough for the terrifying woman), Sakura casually glance over at Sasuke. He had on a black, long sleeve University of Konoha Basketball shirt and black jogger sweatpants. _Black is always a good color_ , she thought, before mentally slapping herself and forcing her focus to remain on Tsunade-sama and the soon-to-start game.

Hinata was always nervous before a match, and honestly during the game too. She was excited, and she loved playing volleyball, but that didn't relieve the stress knowing that she was the first line of defense. If she couldn't do her job, then her team couldn't perform. She _had_ to return the serves, hits, or lucky blocks. Every time she stepped back on the court, usually substituting for the tallest members of the team, the middle blockers, she forced herself to smile. She believed this helped her to relax. Hinata also bounced the ball exactly three times before she would serve. And, she briefly touched the floor between her spread feet with the tips of her right hand fingers before each play. Furthermore, she always scrunched her nose mentally saying, _bring it_ , before the opponent served each time. Perhaps she was superstitious, but if she didn't do her little routines, she felt off and was distracted. It had to be just so.

She knew Sakura thought she was weird. Why would such timid girl play volleyball? Or any sport? But it was volleyball that gave her confidence. She remembered crowding in Ino's room a couple of weeks ago, confessing to Sakura and Ino why she played volleyball.

"I used to have a stutter, and didn't believe I was good or useful at anything. My dad wanted me to join a sport in middle school, and at least in volleyball the opponents are on the other side of the net. But I have good control, and my coach made me realize that I was needed on the team, because I was the only one who could get the ball exactly where it needed to be for the setter to use it."

Ino had twirled her hair and cheered, "Of course you're needed, Hinata!" and Sakura smiled sweetly, "Look at you now, playing at a collegiate level!"

Her roommates were quickly becoming her best friends.

As the team came to a split-second huddle after a good play, Hinata glanced at Sakura. There was sweat sliding down her sharp chin, and her light freckles were being clouded by the red tinting her face from exertion, but her smile was contagious. Their setter, a third year named Tayuya, congratulated Hinata on a nice pass and encouraged her to keep up the good work, and another outside hitter, Kiba's sister, Hana slapped her back as she headed to the end of the court behind Hinata to serve the ball. Her heart warmed, this was why she played volleyball, for the comradery between her teammates.

After making an especially good save, diving from the edge of the court toward the middle, she heard a loud whoop behind her. During the following time-out made by the other team, Hinata scanned the crowd on the bleachers. The entirety of their dorm came! Her eyes landed on Naruto. Oh, he looked so bright and joyful. He was wearing jeans and a faded cross country race t-shirt, but had on a University of Konoha baseball cap on his blond head. There were two empty Styrofoam cups that once held ramen on the bleachers beside him and he was now munching on gummy bears. Suddenly, their eyes met and Naruto flashed his glowing smile and held two thumbs up. Hinata could feel her face growing redder until Sakura elbowed her and dragged her by the elbow back on the court. Sakura's hands were then on her shoulders.

"Hinata! Focus on the game. You want to keep impressing Naruto, right?"

Just the mention of Naruto made her want to turn back around to the bleachers, but she resisted, reaching up to tug on one of Sakura's braids instead and giving a little "Hai."

She forced a little smile, reached down as she got into a ready position to brush the floor with her fingertips, leveled her gaze at the team across the net, and thought: _bring it_.

* * *

Sasuke watched Kiba, bouncing up and down in his seat from his peripheral. His teammate was going stir crazy, and it was only the first day of classes. They had Calculus I together, surprisingly, in a large lecture hall with rows of tables as desks and the type of chairs that swung out and underneath the desks. Sasuke knew Kiba had street smarts, but didn't take him to be the type to buckle down and study, and so far his assumptions were proving right. Kiba's restlessness was on par with Naruto's, but he wasn't half as considerate with his words when he opened his mouth. The girl next to him looked annoyed, but at least she wasn't offended by whatever Kiba was muttering. Sasuke thought he recognized her from the volleyball team, which meant she was probably used to it if Kiba's sister, also on the volleyball team, was anything like her brother.

Sasuke glanced to his right, where Sakura was studiously taking notes. Her choppy hair was pulled into a choppy ponytail, and he noticed she had a new piercing: a sparkly, tiny, stud on the side of her perfectly straight nose. He imagined she'd have to tape it for volleyball games just like she taped her ears and his face grew warm when he pictured the thin strip of tape that would go across her nose. He told himself to focus on class, like Sakura was. He should be taking notes, like Sakura was. Her handwriting was so neat. Dang it, he really needed to stop.

He focused on Kiba again, who had evolved from bouncing to straight up shivering in his seat. The tattooed boy met Sasuke's eyes desperately, but Sasuke just pretended to be oblivious to the pleading written over Kiba's face. Man, it was only a fifty-minute class. How did Kiba expect to be a veterinarian if he couldn't pay attention in class? Then again, Sasuke wasn't doing much better. They had forty-three minutes left.

Grumpily, Sasuke muttered to Sakura, "Wasn't today supposed to be syllabus day?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you were an art major, yes."

"Hn, my roommate, Sai, would be offended by that statement."

"Look, I'm here for four years to make a 4.0 GPA to get into medical school or die trying. I find it offensive when people who don't work as hard as I do complain about their oh-so-complicated art projects. Art is a hobby, not a major."

Sasuke studied her for a minute. Her pencil strokes were deeper and angrier than before. She was so rude. Art brought joy (or at least some type of strong feeling) to people, and Sai was exceptional at the skill. He was studying it to learn more about the skill, and it was complicated in its own way, relating to cultures and people and history. Back in the Renaissance period, talented artists were regarded just as highly as talented architects or scientists. But, he could see her point of view. Sai probably also could, although he was emotionally constipated, he was astute. Sai also probably didn't care. Kids usually had an idea what they were getting into when choosing their majors, and if they didn't, then they quickly found out. _Or_ , a strange thought passed through Sasuke's head, _maybe Sai did care…_

"He gave you a nickname, didn't he?"

Sakura's hand stilled, her pencil almost snapping in half. "Yes." She grit out. "Ino invited him to our dorm last night and shared homemade strawberry mochi with him. Which A: Ino knows is my favorite dessert and they ate it all, and B: my nickname is Ugly."

Sasuke gave a loud guffaw before instantly regretting doing so, especially in the middle of class. Kiba swung his head and stared at Sasuke like some kind of freaked out unblinking chicken, and the rest of the class at the least gave him a quick glance.

"Don't worry; he gave Naruto the name of Dickless."

Now it was Sakura's turn to obnoxiously laugh. Her eyes shown with mirth as she glanced at Sasuke. "Did you get a nickname?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I told him I'd beat him up. His skinny little tennis arms have nothing on my basketball arms."

Despite her blush, Sakura leaned closer to him, resting her chin in her hand. "Do you think my volleyball arms could take your basketball arms?"

Sasuke leaned away and looked down his nose at her, considering. "Sakura, you have a weird way of flirting. Do you want to go get strawberry mochi later tonight?"

Sakura tapped the end of her pencil against her mouth, and Sasuke could tell she was trying not to smile. She nodded her head and elbowed him before turning back to her notes.

Sasuke didn't take any notes for the remainder of the class; too pleased with himself to focus on calculus. Kiba had stopped his bouncing and shivering, but was still giving him that unblinking chicken stare.

Later that afternoon, Kiba and Sasuke arrived at basketball practice. Much of the team was fierce and gruff; basketball had a way of singling out those types of players, a sort of "survival of the fittest." Kiba however, was a pansy. Oh, he could put up a tough front, growling and glaring like the best of them, using his height to intimidate, but despite his burnished brown hair, tan skin, and red facial tattoos, his pale eyes were usually too bright and excited to really pull off the dangerous aura that most teammates had. He was also, somehow, Orochimaru-sensei's favorite. Admittedly, Sasuke thought he'd be the one getting special treatment from the famous coach, as Orochimaru personally scouted and asked him to play for Konoha. But after the team had settled in during the last half of summer training, it was apparent that Kiba was everyone's favorite. He reminded Sasuke of Naruto in that regard, but he was less optimistic and less sunshine and rainbows than Sasuke's roommate. Kiba was more snow clouds and puppies and hope rather than blistering confidence.

Kiba, using all his bottled hope and energy bounced up to Orochimaru-sensei and said, "Sasuke's got a date this evening, so he can't get too smelly and sweaty, right? Also, it's the first day of class, so can we have an easy practice?"

Sasuke swore. What an idiot. Orochimaru turned his hawk-like gaze on Sasuke for a long second before asking Kiba, "Do teams who practice easy win?"

Kiba muttered a no.

"Then, we are not going to have an easy practice. We want to win, so we will work hard, Kiba." Raising his voice slightly, Orochimaru stated, "Everybody, complete eight rounds of running bleachers."

The team groaned, giving Kiba exasperated looks, but they couldn't stay mad at him long, even their giant center, Kisame, ruffling his hair. Two rounds in, Sasuke could feel the sweat trickling out of his hair and down the skin behind his ear. His thighs and calves burned, but he kept telling himself he was fine, he could continue. He would take a shower before going on his date and it would all be fine.

After their running, Orochimaru allowed them to scrimmage rather than doing drills. Kiba was a power forward, a little bulkier than Sasuke and with scrappy rebounds and passes. Sasuke was the small forward, a well-rounded player with a little more agility than Kiba. There were a couple of second years including, Zaku the shooting guard, and one third year on their team, but they were playing against Kisame and Sasori, third years and the current star players. Kisame was an especially aggressive center, while Sasori was a point guard with wicked ingenuity. It was a tough game, and Sasuke and Kiba lost relatively quickly to the more experienced team. Orochimaru called Sasuke over after the loss.

"This date of yours, who is it with?"

Sasuke almost glared at his coach. Why did he have to be so creepy and nosy? "Haruno Sakura, she's on the volleyball team."

Orochimaru looked a faintly surprised, and Sasuke wondered how he knew Sakura. Again, it was creepy. But his coach just nodded and said, "Make sure this doesn't affect your performance on the team."

Sasuke jerked. "Yes, sir." He did not want to lose his spot, could not lose his spot. He had to do well, for himself and his brother, Itachi.


	4. Magical Meals

3

It was a pleasant Saturday morning and Shikamaru was not sleeping. The sun had fully risen only twenty minutes ago, the breeze was moist and soft, and Shikamaru was not cloud watching. His tennis partner, Sai, was lightly huffing next to him and pushing his pointy elbows into his side every time Shikamaru tried to slow down to a walk. He would have glared at his teammate, but he was too focused on not tripping. How could Shikamaru have so much agility and grace on the court but be so inadequate at something as natural as running? Granted he was exhausted as they had been running for…oh, only fourteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

The instigator of this little shindig was about ten feet ahead, keeping pace with a sweaty Sasuke (who had the most angered, determined look on his face Shikamaru had ever seen). Naruto was loping along, hands loosely curled and shoulders straight as he led the three other boys downtown. He was not as antsy as Shikamaru had seen him before, probably because all of his twitchy-ness was channeled into running, but he was no less glowy than usual.

 _Why did I let Sai convince me to go on a run with his roommates?_ Shikamaru internally groaned. His brain supplied him with the benefits of running: his stamina and endurance would increase, his legs would work different muscles than when playing tennis, his heart would become more efficient at pumping blood, Shikamaru would become a better, well-rounded athlete overall, and this would in turn make him a better tennis player. What a drag.

Naruto let out a shout. "We're almost there!"

Up ahead, the neon pink and blue lettering of a Braum's was beaming. The four boys sped up; their destination in sight and their motivation (or desperation) pushed them faster toward the finish. Once they reached the parking lot, however, Naruto suggested they walk around the building a couple of times until their breathing returned to a more normal rate. Shikamaru just wanted to collapse and lay with his back on the ground. But he also wanted to eat; Naruto claimed he knew just what to order after a quick (3.46 miles, ugh) run.

The three still-slightly-breathless boys piled into a large booth in the corner while Naruto went to order. Shikamaru put his head on his folded arms, getting sweat all over the table. Sai sat upright, his annoyingly pleasant smile still somehow on his face, and Sasuke looked simultaneously irritated and constipated. Naruto returned with two trays of food, which turned out to include four tall cups of water, four Spinach and Mushroom Bagel Omelets with a sausage patty, and four banana splits.

Even Sai managed to look disconcerted. "We're not going to run back to campus are we? I think I might throw up if I eat all of this and the head back."

Naruto shook his head. "No, no we'll take the bus! Don't worry, it may look like a lot of food, but this is the perfect meal after a run. Take it from the chef-in-training!"

"Dobe, we've only been in class for a week." Sasuke grumbled.

"I'm serious; it's all down to a science! You've got your carbohydrates in the bagel, proteins in the eggs and sausage, calcium and vitamins A and C in the spinach and fiber and vitamin B in the mushrooms, potassium and more carbs in the banana, and sugar for a quick energy recovery in the ice cream!"

Shikamaru gave the blond a blank stare. "Well you're not wrong."

With that, they dug in. And…Shikamaru had never tasted anything so heavenly. For once, his mind was not wishing he was sleeping or cloud watching or chaotically strategizing new tennis plays, it was solely focused on shoveling the too salty and too sweet food but still magical food into his mouth as quickly as possible.

* * *

Hinata honestly couldn't figure out how she came to be in this situation. She was sitting at the wooden table next to Karen-sempai in the athletic dorm's shared kitchen, watching as Naruto and Chouji practiced making their first recipe for their cooking classes. Lee-sempai was also in the kitchen, supervising.

She had met Karen in the stairwell on her way back from class, when the redhead grabbed her elbow and asked if she wanted to go spy on Naruto. Hinata couldn't remember if she had said yes, or nodded her head, or simply froze, but Karen had dragged her to the kitchen and suddenly they were less spying and more blatantly staring.

Karen had evidently just returned from cheerleading practice and still adorned her tank-top, and small black shorts with the traditional low-cut white cheer shoes that just accentuated her long legs. She kept making gooey eyes at Lee, who was in fact, oblivious. Hinata supposed that this would count as spying, for Karen. Lee had no idea how closely he was being watched (or ogled). Hinata and Naruto on the other hand, were making fools of themselves, but getting the chance to watch Naruto flit about the kitchen in sweatpants and another faded race shirt topped with an apron covered in cartoon toads was definitely worth it.

Naruto kept smiling at her over the counter and making mistakes as he was so distracted. Chouji had to constantly correct him.

"That's the sugar, Naruto-kun. We need salt."

"Ah! Thanks, Chouji!" Cue blinding smile.

"The pasta is about to boil over, Naruto-kun, please stir it."

"Right! That would make a mess." Cue sheepish grin.

"Don't pour that much chili powder in! Pay attention, Naruto!" Cue a surprised look of growing horror.

This time, when Naruto turned to Hinata, he was not smiling. "Hinata, I've ruined the dish and now it'll be too spicy for you to taste! I'm so sorry!"

"Ah…i-it's okay, Naruto-kun." Dang it her stutter was back.

Chouji grumbled. "What are we going to do with all of this food now? What a waste!"

Lee decided to comfort his underclassmen. "Don't worry, Chouji! I am sure it tastes fine, I will be glad to eat something made by my kohai!"

Lee took a large bite, his black eyes growing wide and filling with tears, his face turning red and his cheeks puffing out. The two freshman chefs stared with surprise and apprehension. Karen leaned forward in her seat.

"YOSH! This is the most youthful dish I have ever had! I can feel my muscles quivering with renewed strength and vigor!"

It was true, Lee was quivering. Karen eagerly leapt from the wooden chair. "I'd like to try some, Lee-kun!"

After both of their faces were sufficiently red and they looked about to pass out, Chouji took control of the situation and dragged them to the back freezer for some mochi.

Naruto let out an amused huff before sharing a fond glance with Hinata. "Let me clean up, Hinata-chan, and then how about we go out for ramen? I know just the place."

Hinata sat feeling light headed for a second before nodding. "Sure, Naruto-kun! I can help clean too."


	5. 4 FOOTBALL!

**Thanks to Kakau for the super reviews!**

* * *

4

Shikamaru was feeling a little bit like a stalker. At the tennis courts last Tuesday, he had seen a blonde athlete practicing her serving in the barely lit morning. She was there early every weekday, and now so was Shikamaru. It was troublesome. Instead of sleeping he was waking up early just to watch this girl practice tennis. Running with Naruto and his roommates on the weekends was slowly killing his brain cells.

But the girl had her curly ( _spiky, kind of like mine_ , he thought) hair pulled into four tails and she always seemed to be wide awake and energetic in these early mornings and her control and precision as she practiced was amazing to watch.

He noiselessly sighed from his spot in the cool grass outside the court. Really, he could tell her features were pretty. The bare light of the dawn made everything seem colorless, and he could just focus on the profile and scale of her nose and lips and chin and…he needed to slap himself. If he wasn't careful, he would be caught one day.

Shikamaru heard quick footsteps. He lifted his head and made out the cross country team running through the soccer fields and up to the tennis courts. Oh, Naruto and an upperclassman were breaking away and jogging in his direction. Crap! He sat up quickly. Today would be that day, it seemed.

"Yo, Shikamaru! What are you doing up so early? About to start practice?"

Shikamaru glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye. She had paused in her serving practice, staring at his slouched frame in the grass. She looked kind of angry.

"Maa, Naruto. I was sleeping."

"Sleeping? In the grass? Why aren't you still back at the dorm then?"

"Yes," a voice purred, "why are you sleeping here? That is odd, don't you think?"

Shikamaru stared at the girl who had walked over, tennis racket perched on her shoulder and eyeing him down through the black fence. He gulped. "Uh, I fell asleep here last night…after cloud watching."

Naruto burst into laughter. The girl just narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. The upperclassman with Naruto gasped.

"Sleeping outside all night in such cool weather cannot be healthy! Shikamaru-san, I am Haku. Maybe we should take you to the nurse, to make sure you haven't gotten sick?"

He looked at Haku. How nice, and if he took the older boy up on his offer he could escape this embarrassing mess. "Thank you, Haku-san, I do think I feel a bit of a headache."

Naruto overzealously hauled Shikamaru to his feet and waved to the blond girl on the other side of the fence. "Bye, Temari-sempai! Have a good morning!"

 _Temari_. Shikamaru repeated her name over and over again in his head. _Temari. Temari. Temari._

Wait…'sempai?!' He groaned. How troublesome.

* * *

Ino squealed. Today was the first football game for the University of Konoha. She, Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten were all getting ready together. Tenten's roommate, Karin, had to get to the field early as she was a cheerleader, but she promised to take pictures with them before or after the game.

Ino sprayed her glitter hairspray into her blonde tresses, making sure they stayed in place, shone in the sunlight, and were still soft to the touch. She was wearing a black denim mini skirt with a cropped green Konoha Ninjas t-shirt. Her skirt was long enough to not be inappropriate, but a sliver of her abs was revealed between the waistband and her shirt. She would, after all, be sitting next to Sai.

She studied Sakura's and Tenten's outfits. Sakura donned an oversized Ninja football jersey with simple black shorts and bold white sneakers. She looked fierce as ever with her dark makeup and jewelry and had her crimped hair pushed back by a pair of black sunglasses. Tenten was wearing scalloped white shorts that showed off her lean runner's legs and a fitted green tank under her breezy black cardigan. She wore little make-up except for mascara and a glamorous, deep cherry lip gloss.

Ino turned to Hinata. The shorter girl was running about and fretting over what to wear. "Hinata? Everything okay?"

"No, it's going to be hot! I don't know what to wear, shouldn't we just dress comfortably? I don't know why we have to dress up anyway. And, how am I supposed to wear sunscreen with my makeup? What kind of shoes do I wear? I hear the student section stands up for the entire game!"

"Everyone will be dressed up! Especially because it's the first game. You should always wear sunscreen under your makeup, it prevents wrinkles."

Hinata plopped down on the ottoman in their common area, face in her hands and groaning. Sakura sat on the couch next to Ino before stating, "Naruto will be there."

Hinata groaned again and dramatically threw herself from the ottoman to the floor. Sakura rolled her eyes, hauling her teammate up as Tenten giggled. The four girls walked to Hinata's room and opened her closet. Sakura rifled through her clothes before selecting a simple, black dress.

"Look, it's casual enough for a football game, dressy enough to be cute, it's got short sleeves so you won't be too overheated, and it's black so it won't show your sweat if it does get hot."

Hinata numbly nodded and changed into the dress.

"You can wear the white high-top converse, Hinata!" Ino chirped as she dug through the pile of shoes at the bottom of the closet. "Now we just need something green."

Tenten held out green ankle socks to pop out over the converse, and found a matching green ribbon. She pulled the front of Hinata's hair back, leaving the bangs out and tied a bow with the ribbon. The finishing touch included a long green beaded necklace.

Soon, they had arrived at the stadium. It was one forty-five in the afternoon, and the male athletes had all been saving the closest seats in the student section since one fifteen o'clock. Ino zeroed in on Sai and took in his long khaki shorts, tennis shoes, and black Konoha Ninjas t-shirt. She nearly squealed as she saw his backwards Konoha baseball cap causing his black strands to poke out of the hole above the cap fastener. Ino may come off as shallow to many, but never let it be said she didn't have good taste.

* * *

Sakura couldn't help the excitement bubbling within her. The game hadn't started yet, but with all the exhilarated fans already calling out cheers and the music booming through the stadium and players warming up on the field the whole place seemed electrified. Sasuke stood beside her, hands in the pockets of his black joggers, his broad shoulders clad in a green Konoha Ninjas shirt. Sasuke had also bought her a soda and a foot-and-a half corn dog that she was scarfing down with plenty of mustard and ketchup. He was so thoughtful. She couldn't wait to see his pleasant façade crack when he realized how much of a football enthusiast she was. She grinned at him wickedly, he had _no_ idea how loud she could be.

The players retreated to the locker rooms, and the video introducing the starting string and hyping up the crowd started on the gigantic screen at the end of the stadium. They went through the University's Alma matter and the National Anthem, and finally it was kick-off and Sakura allowed her voice to join the thousands of others in the stadium. She cheered as Konoha moved down the field and booed as the officials threw a flag for a fowl supposedly made by Konoha. Sasuke stared at her with slightly widened eyes for about seven minutes before slinging his arm over her shoulders and leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"Will you cheer this loudly for me at the basketball games in the spring?"

Sakura stood on her toes. "All this and more, I'll even make you a poster. How does _Number Nine will Kick Your Behind_ sound?"

* * *

Lee could feel the blood pumping through his veins. Though it was a tough game, Konoha was managing to stay ahead. The football was tossed to him and Lee shuffled backwards to get a better look at who was open or if he could run the ball himself. He saw the defense straining against their opponents, he needed to move the ball before they were overpowered or exhausted themselves. His running back, Kimimaro, was blocked however, and Lee couldn't throw the ball to him. He could hear their coach, Jiraiya-sensei, bellowing for Lee to run the ball. _Go, Lee!_

There! The new freshman, Chouji, was pushing his opponent back, creating a path for Lee to slip through. Lee could make it! He was fast! He cradled the football against his side, just like a baby, and dodged and darted his way down the field. Soon, there was no one in front of him. He could feel someone on his tail though. Not knowing whether it was friend or foe, Lee didn't waste time to look back, he put on a burst of speed. Just as he was about to cross into the end zone, he felt the tackle hit him. Lee grit his teeth against the mouth guard. The two football players jarringly hit the ground and spun dizzyingly and it was all he could do to keep ahold of the football and try to land in bounds.

Finally their momentum came to an end, and Lee bounced up, feeling sore but thankfully not injured. The officials ruled a touchdown! Thirty seconds left in the game was just enough time for Konoha's kicker, Hidan, to give a manic smile before whacking the ball through the field goal. After shaking hands with the other team and congratulating them on a good game, Lee felt tears pool in his eyes. Chouji gawked at him.

"You're crying, Lee-sempai?"

"My dear kohai! This was such a youthful game! Everyone performed outstanding and we could not have done it without each other!"

Jiraiya-sensei ambled over to the celebrating players. "Yeah, yeah, good job everyone. This was a great first game and a good start to the season. If everyone continues to work hard throughout the year, I'll reward each and every one of you with a free and signed copy of the next _Icha Icha_ novel!"

The team cheered even louder, drowning out the sound of Jiraiya's squawk as Kakuzu and Hidan poured a cooler of icy orange Gatorade over his head.

Lee spotted the glasses-wearing, redheaded cheerleader waiting for him on the field outside the entrance to the locker rooms. Jiraiya-sensei muttered to him that he didn't want to see Lee downstairs until after he had asked the girl on a date.

"When a beautiful girl seeks you out, Lee, you don't ignore that." His coach herded the players down through the tunnel and gave him a wink.

Lee turned to Karin, tossing his arms out, he happily yelled, "Karin-chan, we won!"

Karin bounded to him at full speed, leaping and wrapping her long, strong legs around his waist and causing Lee to drop his helmet and wrap his arms around her. He was grimy and sweaty and sore, but when Karin leaned down to give him a kiss, he felt invigorated.


End file.
